I'm a full time livestreamer on Twitch.tv, where I stream comic making, commissions, and all kinds of digital art. I've helped some friends get started streaming on Twitch, from explaining the social dynamics of the site, to helping them calibrate their stream settings for smooth performance. And over the course of this last year, I've helped so many viewers with tips on how to improve their streams and where to start. It's gotten to the point where I think I want to make a tutorial series on Creative Streaming 101, so people can not only start their own streams, but have a proper understanding of what's going on!

Some things I'll definitely go over:

The software required to stream (OBS) and how to actually understand the settings inside it, including how to customise your settings to avoid lag and disconnections!

Twitch 101 - Your live dashboard (stream title, chat, stats, info panels etc), how the website emotes work, popular inside jokes/social dynamics used on the website, hosting/raiding other streams, the bare bones basic of what Twitch is about and how to get in the loop

Advice for streaming. Using mic and cam vs not, how you can take advantage of OBS scenes and ways to customise your stream to stand out as a community

Alerts to encouraging viewers and chatters - How to set up alerts (new followers and donations etc), ways to encourage donations, how to customise your stream to stand out and have fun with your alerts

Chatbots and extensions. The best chatbot to get started, why you might want to use one, HOW to set it up. Also browser extensions for custom emotes and why you should want them.

Making a living off streaming, what you have to do to accomplish it, and how to make the most out of your growth period.

Is there something you want to know about streaming but struggle with? Something stopping you from starting? Or have you been streaming for a little while and need help/don't understand a certain aspect of it? Ask in this thread and I'll keep it in mind and try to answer all your questions!

Why? I love streaming and I've been doing it for years on and off, but it's only in the last year and a half has it taken off for me and become such a huge part of my life. So many people I know want to get involved but don't know where to start, and I want to help bridge that gap. There's also plenty of "how to start streaming" tutorials out there, but I want to make one specifically targeted at the creative community!

Neat. I did my first stream on picarto recently, was super easy to setup.

I do have some questions. where will you post the tutorial? and How do you find artists on twitch?I'm new to twitch and all I can find is a bunch of gaming videos and the very few drawing ones I find are people who draw boxes, like cardboard boxes. Idk

Yeah im definitely keen on going over Twitch Creative because so many people still think Twitch is a gaming only site. There's a whole section you can browse! (scroll to the bottom and hit "show all creative" if it gives you a bunch of categories).

I'll post it somewhere where everyone can view it, like on my website or some kind of blog somewhere. Also I'm glad you had an easy time with Picarto, I've found a lot of people struggle especially when they have slower internet and aren't sure how to navigate OBS or the streaming site to take advantage of all the potential there.

I've seen some people do writing streams, never super popular though (like the viewership will just be some diehard fans and close friends who want to hang out). I assume because writing takes concentration, it's hard to talk and converse with the chat at the same time, so not much is happening on stream. My tutorial will be centred at visual artists.

I think it depends on the writer. I have a stream @seasaltstream where I know my content will be free anyways so I don't mind people watching me write. It's cool to have input from fellow authors and fans while I'm mindmapping or storyboarding. Sometimes I also critique others work so it's a fun time. Add me so we can chat if you'd like.

I just thought of something I'm clueless about, what sort of mic/headset do you recommend? I am not a gamer so I don't have any sort of mic except for the terrible one built into my computer. The expensive ones are too heavy for my liking. I don't care for high def sound I just want a mic that gets the job done

Usually your computer one should be just fine! But if you want a clearer sound for streams, try looking at your local tech store for a desk mic. You should be able to get ones that are like $30 or so, and I really recommend them above a headset bc headset mics are easy to bump and pick up bad feedback. Sorry for the late reply!

Sorry for the late reply! It’s usually recommended at least 3.0GHz cpu for gaming streams, so you could probably get away with 2.4GHz or higher. 8GB ram seems to be the minimum as well, otherwise you might struggle running an art program plus your chat etc. I’m afraid I don’t know enough about graphics cards etc to recommend other requirements - but no matter what your computer is using, you can test out a stream and see how it feels and looks without actually going live! Once you have the basics up and running, (download OBS, add your screen to it, make a twitch account and add your Stream Key to OBS), you can add “?bandwidthtest=true” onto the end of your stream key (without the quotes). This will stop your stream actually displaying on the website, so you can do some drawing and see how your computer feels and runs without spoiling a stream with potential lag.